


I Can Take It

by Soyeahthishappened



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Description of Whipping, F/M, Mild Language, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 10:22:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17282273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soyeahthishappened/pseuds/Soyeahthishappened
Summary: You never thought that you'd be made an example of. Especially not like this.But if it meant that everyone in your company could be safe? You'd take 10 times more than whats coming.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on a Lord of the Rings writing marathon at the moment. I know not many people will read this most likely but feel free to leave a comment requesting a character and scenario. I'll more than likely get to it when I'm not busy. I gained most of my inspiration from TWD if I'm being honest, haha

How did you ever get into this position?

You wondered rather dumbly to yourself as your hands were bound in front of you.

By whom, you may ask? 

By these underhanded, dirty playing, assholes who decided to pledge their miserable lives to Sauron. What the hell did that guy offer anyways? Because right now he was seeming more and more of a piece of shit than you had already thought. 

First they kinda sorta murder Gandalf indirectly through your travels (he came back thank god. Poor man), then they permanently kill Boromir, a friend you had all come to care for, and kidnap Merry and Pippin (two sweet hearts who helped keep everyone lighthearted), caused Sam and Frodo to slip out from under your noses, and now here they were, using Pippin as collateral. 

The men were tying everyones hands, no one wanting to risk any harm coming to him. At the moment it wasn't safe to act because the man still had his knife to Pippins neck. Everyone was angry (even though as soon as Pippin was out of harms way you knew they could easily take the lot of them) and Aragorn was glowering so intensely it even made you shiver. A man finished tying Legolas's hands behind his back and shoved him down onto his knees. 

You would figure that they would just kill all of you on the spot, but that didn't seem to be the case. And it seemed Aragorn was wondering the same thing, because moments later he questions as calmly as he could, "What is your business with us? Why don't you just kill everyone here and take what you're here for?" He questioned suspiciously, his eyes narrowed in a seemingly permanent glare. 

The man you assumed to be the leader of this band of weirdos stepped up to Aragorn, shoving him back roughly onto his back, "Keep your mouth shut!" He kicked Aragorn while he was down, once again, earning laughter from the others around. Gimli struggled to get his hands out, yelling angrily at the man, "Stop that you worthless human trash! Or I'll stick my axe through your skull!" The man turned from Aragorn and sized up Gimli, allowing his eyes to drift around the circle of kneeling Fellowship members. 

When his eyes land on you he pauses. "Perhaps someone needs to show whose really in charge now here." He states simply, taking a few steps towards you. You reel backwards when he comes to stand in front of you, glaring hatefully up at him. He leans down and grabs the rope binding your hands, dragging you over to a tree a couple paces away. He throws you down at the base of it and places his foot on your back, keeping your face pressed down into the dirt. You hear the rest of the group protest rather loudly at the rough treatment being pushed onto you, but you stay silent. 

Even as your hands are tied around the tree with your back facing the rest of the group, you stay completely silent. Gimli struggles against one of the men, trying to get up as he yelled at them to leave you alone. You turned your head in an attempt to catch a glimpse of what was going on behind you, but your head was roughly turned back. The man holding onto Pippin then yelled out. "Still, or I'll cut his throat." 

You just sat there, face pressed painfully against the tree bark with your hands tied uncomfortably around it. All you could do was take a deep breath and try and stay calm despite your anticipation for something horrible.

The man crouched down to your kneeling and tied form, and grabbed a handful of the back of your shirt. He yanked his hand back and tore it off mostly, leaving your bare back in clear view of everyone else. There was more protesting, Gimli cursing all of them with as much creativity that he could muster, Legolas yelling something himself angrily, but it was all drowned out to you. You didn't know what was going to happen, and you really didn't want to find out. 

There's more rustling right behind you, and then the man yells out. "Let this be an example as to what will happen when you step out of line!" He yelled. You weren't sure what he was on about, but you were about to find out.

There was a moment of silence.

And then if felt like your back was on fire. 

You couldn't even stop the cry that left your lips, though it was mostly from surprise. The muscles on your back were tense, and your chest rubbed uncomfortably against the bark of the tree. You tilted your head downwards, closing your eyes tightly. They were still yelling, practically begging him to stop, but you could barely even focus on their words before another painful lash was inflicted upon your back. You had to physically bite your tongue to keep from yelling out this time, not wanting to distress everyone further. 

That went on for 13 more times.

On the 5th, your back felt like it was on fire. And on the 6th you yelled out. "I can take it!" In rhythm with the lash. And on the 11th you could feel the beginnings of blood running down your back. You were panting, clenching up each time it came into contact with your skin. After the 15th, your hands were untied and you were allowed to collapse to the ground. You barely even managed to put an arm over your chest when he kicked you forward, but other than that you couldn't even manage to open up your eyes. "Y/N..." You don't know who called out to you, but you managed to lift your head a bit. 

Forcing yourself to speak, you stated softly, "I-It's alright... I can take it." That was the most you could muster up before your head dropped to the ground a bit. 

The man placed his foot on your back and pushed you over onto your stomach, causing you to cry out softly. "Now that we're done with that...", You heard Pippin make a noise of discontent as he was shoved to the ground.

You grabbed his foot still on the ground and used what little strength you had left to pull him off his feet, successfully knocking him onto his own back. But all that earned you was a swift kick to the gut. You doubled over in on yourself, eyes closed tightly. You weren't even offered anything to cover your miserable form up with. 

Sometime later, a bunch of the men left for some sort of scouting thing, but you were just left there on the ground in front of everyone. Those idiots didn't even bother tying you up.

Aragorn spoke softly over to you, "Y/N... are you conscious?"

He knew asking if you were okay was stupid.

You weakly lifted up your head, arm still clutched around your front to protect what little dignity you had left. There was no point in nodding. Shifting your gaze around the camp to see who was still there, you noticed that the clearing was mostly empty save a couple guards standing just behind you. You could barely look into any of their eyes, but this was your chance. 

Sitting up ever so slightly, you began to drag yourself over to the nearest of your comrades, Aragorn. 

At first, you tried to release his binds with just the one hand, but that didn't really seem to be working all that well. So, with quite a bit of shame, you let your arm around your chest fall and you successfully pulled his arms out. Immediately he wrapped his now freed arms around you, obviously careful of your shredded back, into a soft embrace. You head was tucked delicately under his chin, but you refrained from enjoying the small bit of comfort for all hell suddenly broke loose. 

It appeared that the men still left in camp finally saw what was happening right there in front of them. He eased you out of his arms and placed you next to Legolas and Gimli who you started to fumble with next while he took care of the other few men. After Legolas was freed, he cupped your face in his hands for just a moment before he went to release the Hobbits. 

Gimli didn't spare you much except a gentle pat on your head before he was quite literally burying his axe into some skulls.

Someone ran up to you suddenly, kneeling down in front of you while there was more fighting just behind you. 

It was Merry. 

He held a cloak in his hands and he draped it around you, allowing your arm to drop. "We have to get out of here, Y/N. They're taking care of the men.." his voice was so gentle, but you were so dizzy you didn't know if you'd even be able to walk. Nonetheless, you grabbed onto his arm and crawled out of the clearing with him. The fabric on your back only making things harder. He sat you down and stood up, pulling his sword out as he stood next to you, Pippin joining soon after. "J-Just stay right there Y/N! The fight is almost over." He promised in his nice voice. Almost lulling you to fall asleep to escape the pain. 

You move the cloak off your back and press it to your chest, unable to fathom how much worse it made your back feel. Merry kneeled down next to you when Pippin showed up, grabbing your face in both of his hands. "Just keep your eyes open for us, Y/N. We'll get you taken care of as soon as all those men are down..." 

All you could manage was a pitiful nod. 

Merry looked at the horror scene that was your back. The whip had been studded. Twice the damage than usual. He didn't know what to do, there was blood running down in streams, dirt sticking to places on your back that they shouldn't be, all surrounded around a horrific and irritated red. There was not an inch of skin left, at the very least, untouched. His fingers gently poked at some of the non bleeding skin, but you still let out a soft whine. "D-Don't. Please don't." 

He stopped right away. And not long after, the fighting finally stopped with the death of the last piece of shit man. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your wound needs to be cleaned. Oh joy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed! Thank you for reading!

The fight stopped right on time, because you weren't so sure how much longer you could keep your eyes open. You were heavily leaning on Merry, desperately trying to ignore the burning on your back. 

All you do is blink for half a second, and then the three doing the fighting are in front of the three of you. Pippin sheaths his sword, not that it was much help anyways, and kneels down next to Merry, "It's bleeding a lot. We need to take care of it before we leave." He stated, looking over at the other three. Aragorn sighed, weighing his options internally. "The rest of the group will be back soon..." 

You didn't want them making any sacrifices for you. Much less did you want to risk getting caught again, especially if they find some back up. "W-We can't stop... because of me. We have to get out of here." You mumbled softer than you intended. Removing yourself from Merry's side, you clutched the cloak tighter to your chest as you attempted to stand up. Legolas reached his hand out and grabbed your arm in a gentle grip, easing you to sit back down normally. "Don't." Is all he said. 

Aragorn stood up, running a hand through his hair as he paced back and fourth for a few moments. The options were limited, and each one had its draw backs. 

Finally, he stopped and turned to everyone. 

"We need to get further away before we take care of it. Staying any longer will only invite an ambush." He didn't seem too pleased with that being the best decision, neither did anyone else, but it's what needed to be done. You nodded your head lightly, sighing out through your nose heavily. Aragorn looked you over, lightly biting his lip. This was going to be complicated. Simply touching your back would cause you pain, and there was the matter of you not being able to wear a proper shirt... 

Legolas gently grabbed the cloak clutched in your grip, looking you in the eyes. "Do you trust me?" He asked softly, placing his other hand on your cheek. Once again, all you could manage was a nod. He gave you a light smile and looked around at everyone else, signaling for them to turn away, before he coaxed it out of your grip gently. You tensed only slightly, but his eyes never strayed from your face. His fingers moved quickly and gently, and then moments later, the article of cloth was tied gently around your neck so you no longer had to hold onto it much. 

Merry and Gimli were sent to go retrieve the horses and ponies, and they went without hesitation. You let out a soft sigh, doing your best to continue to ignore the horrible pain on your back. Pippin scooted closer to you and gently pat your knee, he looked so guilty and you couldn't begin to know why. 

But he was sure about to tell you. 

"I'm so sorry, Y/N. None of this would've happened if I hadn't let him get a hold of me..." His voice was soft with regret, the guilt shining in his eyes as he stared at you with shame. You only shook your head, though, "Pippin... Don't blame yourself." You paused to take a much needed breath, you were quite short of them after all, "It isn't your fault, I'm only glad it was me instead of you. Or Merry, or anyone else. Don't ever apologize", another breath, "For staying alive." You forced a light smile, your gaze flickering over to Legolas and Aragorn who only seemed just as regretful as Pippin. "That goes for all of you."

It was amazing to even you how you were able to keep your voice so steady, stuttering only a bit. But there wasn't much time to dwell on that because here were Merry and Gimli with your rides. Aragorn and Legolas grabbed one arm each, successfully bringing you to your feet so you could ride. "You'll ride with me, it's not wise for you to go at it alone." Aragorn stated without hesitation, helping you mount his horse. 

This was going to be a joy. 

* * *

 

You haven't a clue how you managed to keep awake throughout the ride, maybe because it was just long enough to put a bunch of distance between them and you, but you did it alright and if you weren't so out of it then you'd feel mighty proud of yourself. Aragorn and Legolas, again, helped you down from your perch. With a shaky sigh, you attempted to turn your head to view your back, but that only caused a painful pull at your skin, so you stopped.

Legolas kneeled behind you after you sat back down, tracing the raw, red, and bloody marks on your back. "We need to clean it first, and then we can apply the proper covering."

Aragorn sat Pippin in front of you, moving Merry off to the side for the moment. He untied the garment from your neck, allowing you to grab onto it before he helped ease you down onto your stomach. Thank god you weren't wearing a dress or some stupid ass tunic. These pants keep whats left of your dignity intact after all. 

He placed your head in Pippin's lap lightly, your cheek supported comfortably against his thigh. "Legolas. Find what you can from the packs. Alcohol, water, bandages, herbs, anything. Everything you can find." Legolas nodded his confirmation and went through the packs as fast as he could. 

It took just a few minutes, but he found plenty of water, some sort of alcohol, and only a few rolls of bandages. No healing herbs or anything else. But it was enough. He handed the items to Aragorn, then took a seat next to him. "Y/N. We need to disinfect your back first... and it's going to hurt. Merry, I need you Pippin and Gimli to keep her as still as possible."

Well that wasn't reassuring. 

Pippin placed his hands on either side of your head gently, and you felt hands hovering over each of your arms. You braced yourself to the best of your abilities, but nothing could've prepared you for the pure and immense agony of alcohol being used as a disinfectant on your openly wounded back. Even the scream that ripped through your throat couldn't be stopped. When you tensed and tried to squirm, you were only held down tightly so he could work. The feeling of a rough rag being dabbed at your back made you kick your legs as you cried out for him to stop. Your legs were seized though so you wouldn't move anymore. 

You don't remember the last time you cried like this, never allowing those against you to see you so weak. 

But now?

You were blubbering like a baby, as you begged over and over for him to stop rubbing at your back with the alcohol and rough rags. You'd never felt so weak or venerable before. It was a horrible, horrible feeling. 

The grip on your arm moved down to your hand, and you couldn't help but squeeze quite harshly. It was just too much. 

It felt like forever that he was cleaning the lashes on your back, and when it was finally over you were panting and sniffling like an overdramatic child. The grips on your arms, head, and legs were immediately released, and Pippin settled for soothingly petting your hair. 

It was humiliating. 

Half naked as a hobbit attempted to soothe you while your wounded back was tended too by the rest of your strong and very worthy friends. You buried your face down against Pippins leg, your arms moving up to cover your head as he went to wrapping the gauze around your torso. It was so silent, you could hear a leaf float to the ground and land on an ant. 

The ministrations on your back halted, and there was more silence for a few beats before Aragorn spoke up once again. "I'm finished." 

You let out a soft breath of relief, moving your shaking arms to push yourself up to a sitting position while no longer caring about your modesty. You were too tired to care. Legolas placed the cloak from before around your shoulders, the bandages proving to be good cover from the material of said garment rubbing onto your back. 

All in the span of a day, you were whipped, thrown around, and humiliated in front of your friends. 

So you dipped your head down, refusing to look anyone in the eyes. You couldn't bear the looks you anticipated on their faces. Pity, guilt, remorse, no doubt guilt. You couldn't take it. Not right now. 

Aragorn seems to sense as such. So he stood and declared. "We ride for a bit longer and then camp out." Merry and Pippin went to their ponies without complaint while Gimli helped you up. "Lass... none of us think any less of you for what happened. It's okay to be taken care of sometimes." He stated quietly, helping you over to the awaiting Legolas and Aragorn. You were to ride with Aragorn again. 

You offered no response.  

* * *

 

While camp was being set up, Legolas sat you down on a bed roll and had Merry and Pippin keep you company while everyone else set up. Legolas had the fire going, Aragorn set up the rest of the bed rolls, and Gimli tied down the horses. Merry moved your cloak a bit to check out your back, making sure you weren't bleeding through yet. Meanwhile Pippin gave you something to eat, also offering you some water. 

You accepted silently.

Not a word had been uttered from your mouth since your back had been cleaned, mostly from shame, also from soreness. Merry leaned his head down so you could see him from your head tilted down, "Y/N, why won't you speak?" He asked quietly, staring up into your eyes. You turned your head to the side, biting the inside of your cheek gently. Everyone was already settled around the gentle fire, and you could just feel the gazes of everyone burning into you. 

You let out a quiet huff, as you grabbed your arms tightly. It was weird, having so much attention on yourself like this. You hated it. "I...I don't know what to say." Is all you could manage. 

Oh how pathetic you felt. 

"I know what you're thinking, Y/N, but none of us think any differently of you because of what happened." Came Aragorn's attempt at comforting you. And oddly enough, it kind of worked. If he noticed that your discomfort was from your fear of being pitied, then maybe it was because they didn't. 

You rubbed your arm gently, looking up as you continued to bite at the inside of your cheeks. "I know." Was all you could muster, relief flooding through you. "But I'm okay... It's not like I, nor any of you, hadn't been delt worse before. I'm fine. And we can't stop on our way to Rohan simply because something unfortunate happened." You don't know where all that came from, but once you started you just had to finish saying your piece. 

You got some reassuring smiles, and it honestly made you feel warm inside. Almost like the past few hours were just a dream, or distant memory. 

This time, it was your turn to smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really satisfied with how I ended it, but I haven't a clue how else to do it.

**Author's Note:**

> This ended up being longer than I anticipated, so I'm gonna make a part two! There will be more characters in that part btw.


End file.
